Clinton issues odd denial of Epstein associations and 'Lolita Express' flights - almost all of which had underage girls

Hmmmmm…. This is, in a word, odd. No one has accused Bill Clinton of anything. The media is currently doing its best to shield the Clintons and ignore the flights Bill took on Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express.” In fact, press efforts seem completely focused on portraying President Trump as Epstein’s “best pal.”

So, why is Bill Clinton issuing a preemptive denial of involvement with the billionaire pedophile, his plane, and his private island?

As you can see, he claims to have only flown on Epstein’s plan four times, says he’s never been to his creepy temple-adorned private island, knew nothing of his crimes, and hasn’t spoken to him in at least a decade. That seems to fly in the face of an awful lot of reporting over the last few years and, since this is the Clintons we’re talking about, we’re going to have to parse it all out.

First of all, it’s worth noting that this didn’t come directly from Bill. It allegedly came from someone in his office. That already affords some wiggle room. If any part of it is proven false, he can claim he never said it, that there was a ‘miscommunication’ with his staff, or offer some other qualifier.

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Second, just about every report we’ve heard previously says that flight logs show Bill took either 26 or 27 flights on the Lolita Express, and Hillary took 5 or 6. Note the qualifier: Four trips “In 2002 and 2003.” That’s a strangely specific time frame, considering the depth of the Clinton/Epstein connection. It also ignores reports that the ex-President ditched his Secret Service detail five times, and directly refutes previous accusations that he had in fact been to Little St. James. As the Daily Mail wrote of his alleged trip to the island:

‘I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here kind of thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me a favor,’ one unidentified woman said in the lawsuit, which was filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court.

The woman went on to say how orgies were a regular occurrence and she recalled two young girls from New York who were always seen around the five-house compound but their personal backstories were never revealed.

So, is the Herald wrong or is Clinton lying? Last night on Fox, reporter Conchita Sarnoff directly accused Clinton of lying – at least about some facets the Epstein story – and said that flight logs show Clinton was an Epstein flyer 27 times – and young girls were a staple of the flights:

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I know from the pilot logs. And these were pilot logs that were written by different pilots at different times, that Clinton went, he was a guest of Epstein 27 times… Many times Clinton had his Secret Service with him and many he did not. Almost every time Clinton’s name is on the pilot log, there are underage girls.

Are we back to parsing here? Is Clinton going to be dragged into a corner where he’ll have to debate the meaning of words like “flights” and “guest” and “trips?” Are they going to claim that the “four trips” were comprised of “27 flights?” Or, is Clinton only admitting to what happened inside a year and a half window, and there are more details to come?

“Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science,” Clinton says through a spokesman. “I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS.”

Finally, Clinton’s claim that he’s had no contact with Epstein in “well over a decade” is completely hollow. “Over a decade” is precisely when Epstein was being investigated and prosecuted the first time, so of course the Clintons would have cut ties. It’s also long after the flights, and the peak of their association. Moreover, if they severed their connection with Epstein and his organization, why was Ghislaine Maxwell -“a confidante of Epstein’s who has been connected to him for more than two decades and is alleged to have played a critical role in recruiting and grooming underage girls into his sex-trafficking ring.” – at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010?

Clearly, there’s more to come on this. Given Clinton’s long, demonstrable, history of lying, anything could happen. If the Clintons have nothing to hide, that’s great news. We should all hope that’s the case. But Bill’s statement raises a lot of questions…

Robert Laurie is a Michigan-based political columnist. In addition to his work for HermanCain.com he currently writes for TownHall and is a veteran of The Detroit News, The Daily Caller, and Breitbart. Follow him on Twitter @RobertLaurie